By Gavin Mackintosh And Nikki Greener-
The British government has vowed to take action against any school or multi-academy trust found illegally off-rolling pupils, the children’s minister has pledged.
It comes after School Week publication began a campaign against schools that exclude students half way through their A levels, putting both the pupils and the new schools they move to in a difficult position. One of the schools on the spotlight is the Newham Collegiate Academy which officially declares its conditions for expulsion to be strictly limited to breaching the schools behaviour policy or poor academic grades.
Schools guilty of off rolling are trying to protect the academic image and ranking of their school by only having strong pupils registered in the final year of main exams, but such a system is corrupt and simply poor.
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Nadhim Zahawi, the Parliamentary under Secretary Of State For Children and Families has vowed to come down on schools that break the law. Last year St.Olave’s Grammar School were forced to readmit pupils expelled for poor peformances after a Guardian investigation exposed the unfair practice in the top rated Uk secondary school.
Zahawi, who is also the co-founder of the international Internet-based market research firm YouGov , and Chief Strategy Officer for Gulf Keystone Petroleum is the 2nd highest earning MP in the UK, and perceived to be one of the most competent and professional of Mps in the Uk. The Eye Of Media.Com has heard that Zahawi will be ensuring the bad practices are eradicated from British schools.
The law forbids mainstream schools from excluding pupils on the basis of academic performance, but the law does not apply to 16-19 free schools or sixth form colleges, according to government guidelines. Schools Week informed The Eye Of Media.Com that in 2017, they revealed that Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre – a 16-19 academy in east London -stopped about 20 pupils from entering year 13 because they failed to achieve three Cs in internal year 12 tests.
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ADMISSION RULES
The sixth form has been taken over by the City of London Academies Trust, but still falls outside the admission rules that ban any such practice in schools. Critics of the school practices are angry with a progression policy on the school website that condition pupils to get three passes in year 12 to continue their studies there. A number of lawyers have been appointed to study the school practices and prepare a legal challenge against schools like Newham Collegiate Sixth Form for falling foul of equality legislation .
Schools that apply expulsions for academic reasons are being accused of failing to consider the learning needs or mental health issues of pupils removed from subjects. They breach equality laws because they treat pupils who are not performing well differently from those who are performing well by unreasonably expelling them from school.
Treating people differently from others is not in itself a breach of equality, until the different treatment can be shown to be unfair on powerfully logical and factual grounds. Pupils who struggle academically, especially at A levels may have personal issues , mental health issues, or may just not be academically strong enough at the time.
Nadhim Zahawi said he was “very clear” that “any form of informal exclusion, whatever term they want to give it, that sort of off-rolling is illegal, it is unethical and it is unacceptable”. , Zahawi’s predecessor, Edward Timpson is also in the process of conducting a review of exclusions and alternative provision.
The review was sparked by rising rates of permanent and fixed-term exclusions, but also concerns about illegal off-rolling, a practice whereby schools get pupils off their rolls without formally excluding them.
Zahawi said he hoped schools would “do the right thing” and “determine never to exclude”.
“One, when it’s illegal we will take action, but also, Ed Timpson’s review I hope will come back with some suggestions of how we incentivise schools, rather than spending their energy and time into that sort of bad behaviour, they should putting their energy and time to determine never to exclude.
“I’ve seen really good practice where schools have come together, collaborated and actually said ‘we’re not going to exclude’, and they’ve achieved it, so it is doable. This isn’t something that is beyond the ability of schools, and I urge every school: do the right thing.”
In a final message to schools, he insisted the government would pursue all institutions that break the law.
“Hear me, here and now. It is illegal. When the government says it is illegal, it means it is illegal and therefore we take action.” The Eye Of Media.Com will be keeping tabs on some of the schools known for this poor practice to see if they make the necessary adjustments expected of them by law.
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